Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., told Newsmax on Tuesday that flying the Chinese flag in Philadelphia shows how leftists use overt socialism to oppose President Donald Trump.
On “The Chris Salcedo Show,” Lankford discussed questions about Democrats and loyalty to foreign powers.
“Yeah, yeah, it’s amazing in Philadelphia to be able to have this, to have folks in their City Council, their immigration office, to be able to fly the communist flag of China there within literally a mile of where our founding documents are actually signed and where Betsy Ross actually made the first flag for the United States,” he said.
Lankford recalled that the city hosted similar flag-raising ceremonies during Trump’s first term.
“They did this twice during the first Trump administration,” he said. “I think that liberals feel like if they pretend that they’re socialists, they can push back on Trump.”
The senator said the city’s actions ran contrary to the ideals of liberty associated with Philadelphia.
“This is literally the city that was supposed to be the basis for the founding of our liberties, celebrating a place that takes away all liberty, that does enormous oppression on their own people,” Lankford said.
Philadelphia officials said the raising of the flag was organized by the city’s Office of Immigrant Affairs to mark the anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party and highlight ties with Tianjin, Philadelphia’s Chinese sister city.
City Solicitor Renee Garcia told Newsweek that similar ceremonies had been held for more than 20 countries this year and were not official endorsements of foreign governments but expressions of cultural pride.
Still, Lankford maintained that voters should respond at the ballot box.
“So there is freedom of speech, but there should also be freedom to vote for the people of Philadelphia, to be able to vote out people that are celebrating socialism in our place of freedom,” he said.
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